Advice for being a server.

In My Humble Opinion
21

You may want to do this w/ every table to get into the habit and it looks natural; the table touch. If you suspect you have patrons who will be so chatty they’ll become a time sink (elderly or drunk persons, for example), touch the table w/ the fingertips of one hand as you arrive and remove those fingertips as you leave. It will make it easy for you to leave on subsequent trips w/o appearing to flee.
I had to learn this at the country club I served at; most of my customers were elderly AND drunk. The experienced servers called it ‘landing and take off’ and when using it I never heard a complaint that the customer wasn’t satisfied w/ the attention I’d paid.
“But I need both hands to write on my order pad!”, you’ll say. Only do so as you walk away, but after you’ve repeated the orders back to the customers, showing them you’ve heard w/ some level of eye contact.

CYA when it comes to your pay; every level of restaurant has its own kind of customer-led scam - find out what yours is before you start serving.
Count out cash payments twice to the payor.
Clearly enter people’s orders into the machine and correct any errors immediately to cut down on comps.
Don’t be afraid to notify your manager if it looks like everyone’s leaving a table w/o paying, chances are YOU will be held responsible for the value of that bill. This can be dicey if it’s illegal to smoke in restaurants in your state and the patrons claim to be going for a smoke.
I don’t envy you the junior high soap opera you’re about to go work in; keep your personal info to yourself, it becomes currency.

22

Absolutely! My SO and I are consistently big tippers but many times we prefer water as we don’t drink soda.

23

Most of my advice is already given - most importantly, treat your entire station as one big table. Never run something out to a table and leave without looking at the rest of your tables. Usually, I’d be bringing drinks to table 1, extra napkins to table 2, a refill to table 3 and looking for the check on table 4. Don’t hover over a table, but let them catch your eye if they need you. If you can’t get to a table right away, stop by to say “Ill be right with you.” Use your fellow servers, say “hey, I can’t get out to table 4 right away, can you bring them 2 ice waters and tell them I’ll be right with them.” Don’t disappear for long periods of time.

24

Scan your data sectors regularly for bad clusters, and don’t forget to de-fragment.

25

Being servers took my husband and I around the world a couple of times, never be ashamed of your work!

If you want to be a good server, and go the distance, you have to be a happy server. And the way to do that is to enjoy the up side of your job so you don’t become focused on the down side, it will eat you alive if you do.

What’s that mean? Revel in the fact that you won’t spend your life waking to a blaring alarm. Enjoy shopping and banking while others are working, shops aren’t busy. Spend a weekday at the beach, seize the opportunities that will come your way.

Don’t be a slave to it, one of it’s great upsides is you can shape your weeks to meet your demands. Need a few days off, to paint your new place, do it. Need extra cash for a big splurge, pick up a shift! Quit your job and go traveling for months on end (that’s what we did, loved it!).

The downsides are easier to let slide off, when you’re enjoying the upsides!

Don’t ruin your health staying up too late every night and moving with a fast crowd, drinking while you work, etc. Too cliche, and you’re better than that. You will see your compatriots fall however, be prepared.

26

Oh ya, don’t worry about dropping plates of food, or breaking stuff it’s going to happen. Just try not to do it on a customer. What I also used to do for the kitchen staff because they weren’t allowed in the dinning room, a couple of times during my shift I would go in and ask all of them if they wanted anything to drink from the bar (pop). It’s pretty hot in the kitchen. Do this you get the good guy title. So if you order a meal, which you’ll probably get at a discount. You’ll find your food taken care of well and your portions will be on the generous side.

27

A group consisting of men and women is ‘folks’; all men, ‘guys’ or ‘fellas’, all women, ‘gals’ or ‘ladies’. I tipped a buck less tonight (out w/ husband) after being called a guy three times, then getting snark when I finally said, “I’m a woman, not a guy.” “Sorry, Ma’am.” :dubious:

28

As a person with serving experience…

Never argue with a customer. It doesn’t matter how idiotic they are being. It will just make you look petty and give them the smug satisfaction of making you lose your cool. As in the rest of life, some people are just jerks. Assume they’re having a bad day and move on.

29

That’s right - we tip as well as anyone else, but I always drink water - I just don’t want to drink my calories, and I don’t drink caffeine, so no diet coke for me (that’s almost always the only diet soda available).

Your job as a server isn’t over until the customer is out the door. I don’t know how many times the tip got smaller and smaller as we sat for a long time after our plates were cleared, waiting for the bill to show up, then waiting for the server to come and take our plastic (and it wasn’t busy - the server just had the wrong idea that his job was done when he cleared the plates).

Be cognizant of how people are responding to you - my husband and I aren’t chatty with servers, and don’t need tons of attention - we just need courtesy and drink re-fills. And for the server to come back and take our money. :slight_smile:

30

This. All of the parts other people have said about not keeping your diners waiting, but especially this. Yes, I’m reading, or my husband and I are chatting. We’re only doing this until we can get the bill, pay it, and get out. If I have to wait for 15 minutes to get a check, I’m gonna wander up to the cashier (or to the hostess, if there’s no cashier) and ask about my check. And I will leave a note and two pennies, saying that I got tired of waiting for my bill.

Folks can be used for a group of all one sex, too. But it really rubs me the wrong way to be referred to as a guy. I’m not a guy, never have been, never really wanted to be. When the group is addressed as “guys”, I feel like I’m not part of the group, nor am I being taken seriously.

31

Fork your children as fast as possible. Disown them so you can ignore them when they die and they won’t become zombies. Using threads might be faster sometimes, but they have a higher chance of destroying your memories and making you catatonic. Try to minimize latency by reading as little as possible.

32

You confused me into thinking that this was a zombie thread. I don’t understand.

33

The name is Ploughman’s Pub, not that that will help any, as it’s a new place up the road from my house. They don’t even have a website yet.

I’m hesitant to describe what kind of place it is, since the fanciest place I’ve ever ate out at is an Olive Garden. Let me describe the place, and maybe you folks can help determine it.

Decor. Firs off, the restaurant is housed in a remodeled house, with each room being set up as a different server’s section. There’s also outdoor sitting, with smokers off to one side so other guests won’t be bothered by the smoke. The tables on the inside are sturdy, and well made. Something you might expect to find at a well to do farm in the early 20th century, with chair to match. Hardwood floors, neutral colors on the walls, and decorations that wouldn’t be out of place on a farm, or in any living room today for that matter. The tables outside are cast iron with ceramic table tops.

Food. Everything being served is fresh made, aside from the ketchup and mustard. The breads, the pastas, the sauces, etc are all made that day, except for things that are supposed to age first. Even the bacon is cut from whatever part of the pig that comes from, brined, seasoned, and smoked onsite. All of our veggies are locally grown, certified organic whenever possible, and fresh. Nothing we serve is coming from a jar or can. (Again, aside from the ketchup and mustard on the table.) Even our mayo is going to be made in the kitchen. Once things are up and running, we’ll even be growing our own spices and herbs.

Menu. The kitchen is run by a professional chef, who has been doing this kind of stuff his entire adult life. We’re going to serve wings (4 different sauces to choose from, including a green chili sauce), hummus, flat iron steak gyros, 3 or 4 different types of salad, spaghetti and meatballs, a steak dinner, fries (either french or sweet potato), fried dill pickles, 2 different types of burgers (both 1/2lb), salmon blt, a cuban, a steak sandwich with french dip, grilled salmon served with green beans and potatoes au gratin. (Pulling stuff from memory, there’s more.) Desserts are going to be a daily special thing, with the first being a dark chocolate lava muffin with raspberry drizzle.

The bar is going to have a professional at it, with any mix drink available, and three beers on draft.

Servers uniform consists of a t-shirt (provided, haven’t seen the design on it yet), black jeans/khakis, appropriate shoes, and an apron.

As for the advice, thank all of you for it. I’ve never worked at such a place, nor in the food industry in general, except for a 3 month stint at McD’s.

Oh, almost forgot. The owner has no preference when it comes to facial hair on employees, aside from keeping it neat. Would any of you be put off by being served food by someone with a neatly trimmed beard?

34

Don’t ask “And what will he/she have?” even if you think the person can’t speak because they’re too young or (especially) have a disability. Ask the person directly. Kids love getting respect from an adult, and people with disabilities get seriously annoyed when they don’t.

Other people at the table will help with communication if necessary.

35

The restaurant sounds very nice. One bit of advice I haven’t seen yet is to be aware of what ingredients go into the various meals so that you can steer people with allergies or intolerances away from foods that would be dangerous or uncomfortable for them.

And on the mercenary side of things (hey, the whole point of a job is to make money): most people will have a mental setpoint of a percentage of the bill that they tip. The higher the total bill, the higher your tip. The easiest way to increase the size of the bill is by way of appetizers, drinks, and desserts. Drinks can easily add up to half of the total bill.

Always be aware of what you need to do next; have a mental list of the next three or four things you need to take care of so that as soon as one thing is finished, you know what to jump into.

When you are paid out at the end of the night, ask for the largest bills possible. It’s damned easy to spend $5 and you won’t even notice it slipping through your fingers, but breaking a $50 bill will make you pause and think it over.

36

The restaurant sounds lovely!

My one piece of advice, which is going to sound dorky. Start quietly at a table, don’t be over-enthusiastic. You can always ramp it up to match the mood of the table, but it’s hard to ramp it down if you start too ‘full on’. I say this as someone who often dines with my husband and we go to relax and catch up with each other. I like my service to be quiet and unobtrusive.

Oh, and I love trimmed beards so would have no issue with that! Is it in place or do you need to grow it in before you start?

37

When you take an order, make yourself a system (number seats or whatever) to help you remember who ordered what, so that you don’t show up with the food and stand there blankly asking who had what. It gives the illusion that you differentiate and care about each person. Good service is about anticipating needs, being observant and efficient, and making each customer feel special.

38

If I order a well done steak* do not tell me that your steaks shouldn’t be cooked that way, just tell the chef to turn it into charcoal and let me enjoy my well done steak. I assure you I already know that everyone who has ever lived except for me knows that my steak preferences are inferior and I don’t need it pointed out by my server. I wouldn’t have thought this deserved a mention at all but I ran into it last week at a very upscale place so apparently it is occasionally an issue.
*This applies to everything on the menu. If someone wants to put ketchup in their soup or crumble saltine crackers in their dessert or whatever else you may find weird and repulsive just do it. They know how they like their food and they don’t need to be told that their personal preferences are an affront to god and man.

39

That’s too bad; we had dinner at a place like the one you’re describing, and the home-made ketchup was pretty much the best thing on the menu. :slight_smile:

40

If you want to sell those desserts for a bigger tip from a bigger bill, don’t ask if the customers want to see the dessert tray - automatically take it out when you’ve cleared their plates. Be prepared to put the bill down right then when they refuse your smiling, “Are you sure you wouldn’t even like to split one?” If there isn’t a set dessert tray, make one up w/ a small tray and have a spoon or fork already on each dessert plate. More often than not this will sell a dessert and takes you no more time than you’d already spend.
Since you’ll probably be in a cotton blend t-shirt try to get a larger size so it won’t cling when you sweat. Wear extra antiperspirant but no cologne. If you’re going to draw attention to your face by wearing a tidy beard please make sure everything else about your head is impeccable.
Wash your apron after every shift, it’s worth it since it will be nearest your patrons’ heads and they’ll see/smell it. It may be worth getting a 2nd apron to have a clean one at all times as it appears you’re going to be working a lot of hours. Likewise w/ the work shirt. You want to wash your work clothes separately w/ added baking soda or ALL your clothes will smell like work clothes.